1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to building members and methods of constructing same and methods of building incorporating same. The invention particularly relates to wooden building members for construction of timber bases.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Houses have become popular incorporating a solid wood construction wherein the walls are constructed from a number of wall boards stacked edge to edge, usually with engaging connections such as tongue in groove connections therebetween. In solid timber homes the outer face of the wall boards represents the outer facing of the building and the inner face of the wall boards represents the inner facing of the building, and typically remains exposed without further lining. The boards are comparatively thick, for example up to 80 mm of timber bases.
Such constructions are strong and aesthetically pleasing. However, there is a growing importance being placed on household energy efficiency and consequently the thermal insulating properties of such constructions are now in question and do not meet some proposed standards. Attempts have been made to overcome this difficulty by providing an insulation space between two boards, the two boards and the insulation space being secured together to form the building member. One example of such a construction is shown in New Zealand Patent 185995 wherein the two wall boards are maintained in their separated arrangement by a plurality of transverse plastic webs. This construction is difficult and involves considerable expense to manufacture.
Another example is shown in New Zealand Patent application 210843/212940 wherein a pair of spaced apart boards are interconnected by a plurality of vertical spacers. This configuration also is difficult to manufacture and in particular makes it significantly more difficult to include an insulating material in the insulating space separating the two boards. Furthermore, the large vertical spacers reduce the effectiveness of the insulating gap as a whole.
In addition to the above disadvantages associated with the insulative properties of the boards, the constructions of the boards generally are complex. In particular the boards generally comprise a laminate of timber boards and as such each board must have its contacting surfaces carefully prepared, adhesives applied, and the boards assembled together. Once assembled together, the boards often must be kept in a pressed-together state until the adhesive has sufficiently cured. The exterior surfaces of the building member may then be dressed. This process tends to make the production of boards a series of discontinuous steps requiring substantial plant, with production capacity severely constrained by the plant available.
Therefore it is an object of the present invention to provide a building member or associated methods of construction thereof or therewith which will go some way towards overcoming the above disadvantages or will at least provide the industry with a useful choice.
In a first aspect the invention consists in a building member comprising spaced apart first and second members each having a pair of end faces defined by their depth and breadth, a pair of edges defined by their length and thickness and a pair of side faces defined by their length and depth, at least one said member comprising a board, a side face of said first member and a side face of said second member opposed and separated by an insulation space, and
at least one connecting member bridging between said opposed side faces of said first and second members, and extending over substantially the entire length thereof, an edge of said connecting member being secured within a channel in and running the length of one said opposed side face and the other edge thereof being rigidly connected to the other said opposed side face to hold and secure said members in said spaced apart configuration.
In a second aspect the invention consists in a building member comprising first and second boards, each having a pair of end faces defined by their depth and breadth and four long faces, each defined by their length and thickness or their length and depth, a long face of said first board and a long face of said second board being opposed and abutting, and
at least one connecting member bridging between said opposed long faces of said first and second board, and extending over substantially the entire length thereof, opposed edges of said connecting member being secured within channels in and running the length of said opposed long faces to hold and secure said boards in said abutting state notwithstanding the adhesion.
In a third aspect the invention consists in a building member substantially as herein described with reference to and as illustrated by any one or more of the accompanying drawings.
In a fourth aspect the invention consists in a method of constructing a building member from a pair of boards and at least one connecting member, the boards incorporating on faces thereof grooves to accommodate the edges of said at least one connecting member, characterised in that said method includes in no particular order, applying a wood soakable liquid into a corresponding said channel of each board, compressing at least the edge regions of said connecting member along the length thereof to be inserted within said channels, and inserting said edges of said connecting member into said corresponding channels such that in the presence of said wood soakable liquid said compressed edges are encouraged to swell and locate said edges securely within said channel.
In a fifth aspect the invention consists in a method of constructing a wall from building members as described in any one of the above paragraphs characterised in that said method includes stacking a plurality of said building members in an edge to edge configuration with edge faces of said first and second boards engaged with corresponding opposed edge faces of the first and second boards of adjacent building members, before stacking each further said building member placing a block of insulating material within the channel formed between said first and second boards, on top of the uppermost connecting member, and extending above the level of the upper edges of said first and second boards to protrude into the channel between the first and second boards of an upwardly adjacent building member to reach or nearly reach the lower connecting member thereof.
In a sixth aspect the invention consists in a building incorporating building members according to any one of the above paragraphs and/or constructed using a method as described above.
To those skilled in the art to which the invention relates, many changes in construction and widely differing embodiments and applications of the invention will suggest themselves without departing from the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims. The disclosures and the descriptions herein are purely illustrative and are not intended to be in any sense limiting.